Follow Us

More

The Flash Season 3 Casts Harry Potter's Tom Felton

When you're riding on the very top, there's no better time to make even more improvements. It's a lesson that The Flash TV series is taking to heart, having turned to the DC Comics superhero's most iconic villain in the very first season - only to up the ante, traveling to parallel worlds and other points in time in Season 2. With Season 3 looking to change things even more dramatically (if the Season 2 finale is anything to go by), The CW's hit hero hour has added another cast member guaranteed to swell its already impressive audience.

The villain of the next season has yet to be revealed or teased, but the time may have come - either that, or that's what the showrunners want us to think. After all, what else could be be planned for the cast's latest addition: actor Tom Felton, best known to audiences as 'Draco Malfoy' from the Harry Potter film series.

The news comes courtesy of TVLine, who claim that Felton has joined the cast as a series regular playing "Julian Dorn, a fellow CSI at the Central City Police Department who suspects there’s more to Barry Allen than just his good guy reputation." Whether he'll be threatening Barry as a superhero or at his day job remains to be seen, but either way, the casting is sure to gain attention (if only for the fact that it's not yet another Glee or CW alum).

The character isn't pulled directly from the comic books, as has come to be expected, but it's clear this role was the major recurring character previously revealed in casting reports. That's why we hesitate to assume that Felton's character will be either an ally or opponent: the role in question was suggested to simply be a man "as intelligent as he is intuitive," meaning Barry Allen's days of living a double life while his coworkers are oblivious are truly over. Dorn may know Barry Allen's hiding something - but even the audience doesn't yet know what that secret is.

Since the Season 3 premiere's now revealed to be titled "Flashpoint" - making good on the comic book story begun with the finale's cliffhanger ending - it's still unclear how different Barry will be when he returns... if he returns. That is, returns to the timeline fans have watched unfold over two seasons, or enters into a completely new one. Will his attempts at time travel re-write a history in which he never became a superhero at all? Will that allow him to finally pursue a romance with Iris West, or will she instead have fallen for another, blonder forensic scientist?

Whatever the answer, Felton's casting makes sense for a number of reasons. Sure, he's experienced playing the antagonist to a bright-eyed, uniquely gifted, beloved hero, but his turns in projects like Murder in the First and Labyrinth show the magical franchise wasn't a fluke. But playing such a well-known, spoiled, sniveling brat doesn't usually offer a boost to an actor's career. Yet those who have followed the actor know that as a charming, easygoing, and humble actor, Felton is about as far from his most famous role as one can get.

With that in mind, it's possible that The Flash could be his true breakout role, in a sense - at least among the rabid Comic-Con fan base who made him a Hall of Fame heartthrob-you-love-to-hate, while simultaneously pigeon-holing him into a one-dimensional character. With nearly every single member of the cast - Gustin, Carlos Valdes, Jesse L. Martin, Tom Cavanagh (returning as a series regular) - able to craft a memorable scene through pure charisma, we can only hope Felton will be called upon to do the same (and at this point, chemistry seems to be the show's top priority).

The Flash season 3 will premiere Tuesday October 4th at 8pm on The CW, Arrow season 5 will premiere in the same timeslot on Wednesday October 5th, Legends of Tomorrow season 2 on Thursday October 13th, and Supergirl season 2 on Monday October 17th.